First day of fall
Fall in the north begins at the September equinox. For 2026 that moment is 00:05 UTC on 23 September — still 22 September on clocks in the United States. Weather records instead call 1 September the start of autumn.
when is the first day of spring
Spring sits on the other half of the year and uses the same kind of double clock. Northern astronomical spring opens at the March equinox: 14:46 UTC on 20 March 2026. Weather offices still open that season on 1 March. A fall article is not hiding a second spring date in September; March is spring, September is autumn, in the north.
South of the equator the labels swap. September’s equinox is their spring; March is their autumn. Say which hemisphere you mean before you pack a picnic.
When is the first day of fall
Astronomically, autumn starts when the Sun’s path heads south across the equator. On a weather calendar, when is first day of fall? 1 September, with meteorological autumn running through 30 November in the north.
First day of fall 2026 therefore has two published answers: Meteorological: Tuesday, 1 September 2026. Astronomical: 23 September 2026 at 00:05 UTC, which is Tuesday, 22 September 2026 in US time zones (8:05 p.m. EDT, 7:05 p.m. CDT, 6:05 p.m. MDT, 5:05 p.m. PDT).
International tables often list 23 September because they print UTC. United States tables often list 22 September because the instant falls on that local evening. Both describe one event. Fall is allowed to start on the first of September and still wait three weeks for the equinox. The leaves have not read either document.
What changes after the equinox
After the September equinox in the north, nights run longer than they did through summer, and the Sun’s path sits lower. Day and night are only roughly equal on the equinox, for the same refraction reasons that apply in March. The following months, not the single evening, are when most places feel the season.
Astronomical fall ends at the December solstice, which in 2026 is 21 December at 20:50 UTC. Meteorological fall ends on 30 November. Those two finish lines are as far apart as the two start lines. Pick one system and stay in it when you count “days of fall.”
In the United States the autumn clock change comes later than the equinox. The first day of fall is not the night you change the clocks.
Questions and answers
- When is the first day of fall 2026?
- 1 September if you use meteorological autumn. For the equinox, 22 September 2026 in US time zones, which is 23 September 2026 at 00:05 UTC.
- When is the first day of spring?
- 20 March 2026 at 14:46 UTC for northern astronomical spring, or 1 March for meteorological spring.
- Why do some lists say 22 September and others 23 September?
- The equinox is one moment. In 2026 that moment sits just after midnight UTC on the 23rd, which is still the evening of the 22nd in the Americas.
Related guides
1st day of spring
The 1st day of spring depends on the definition and location. Meteorological spring uses a seasonal calendar, while astronomical spring begins at an equinox. In the Southern Hemisphere, spring occurs
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Sixty days is eight weeks and four days. It is not a season. Meteorological seasons are three-month blocks; in 2026 northern autumn (September–November) is 91 days. Sixty days sits inside that block,
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All Summer in a Day is Ray Bradbury’s story of a short sun after years of rain. On Earth, the last day of summer is a season clock, not that hour on Venus.